guest post from welcome to the woods

Today I have something special and different. As much as I love to share my projects with you all my goal is not to just show and tell my own. I want to inspire my readers (you, yes you!) and I can’t do that completely with just sharing my own. I am but one person with limited time, money, and hands to do things. I also only bring my ideas to the table. So today I am sharing someone else’s wonderful idea. I want to pass the inspiration along. Push the envelope just a little more by bringing other ideas to the table.

Melissa from Welcome to the woods was one of the first bloggers I “met” when I started. She is such a talented person with some amazing furniture redo’s. She is sharing today one of her projects with her own art work. Oh yeah, she is also an amazing artist and her work is featured through out her home, which she shares on her blog. OK, so here goes my first of hopefully many guest posts here…

Hey everyone! I’m excited to be guest posting for Our House, Now A Home today as Emily has generously agreed to feature me. My name is Melissa Woods, and I blog for the homemaker in you at www.welcome-to-the-woods.com. Today I plan to share a practical, ingenious idea you can do yourself to add a personalized touch to your home. I created a serving tray by simply attaching cabinet handles to a framed painting.

This DIY craft is special because I am the artist of the painting. For me, it was a completely unique way to show off my artwork other than hanging it on my walls. For you, your framed piece could highlight anything personal to you: photographs of your family or just a great fabric print that accentuates your couch pillows.

So how do you do it? First, you find any old frame that is the size of tray you desire. I wanted one on the skinny side, but the one I had was an oak stain color. It didn’t fit with my décor, so I sanded it a bit and spray painted it white. Next, I drilled pilot holes through the frame to match where the cabinet handles would go. I used long screws that went through the wood frame and into the cabinet handle on the surface. The screw head was still sticking out on the bottom, so I covered each in one of those felt stickers that help items slide on furniture without scratching. Lastly, I dropped in my painting and voila, it was done!

I use this as a decorative piece for my coffee table and, of course, as a tray to serve guests their drinks. I love this project because it is simple and really cost effective. I paid about $4 for the two handles at Home Depot and $1 for the frame at a garage sale. The spray paint cost $1 at Walmart and the felt stickers cost $0.88 at Home Depot as well. The painting was something I had made previously and cost nothing. So the total comes to about $7; compare that to a $20 tray at Target. Plus, this is something you can be proud to say you made yourself!

Thanks for reading! I really hope you were inspired by this idea to try it for yourself! Come visit www.welcome-to-the-woods.com for more décor and craft ideas, frugal financial advice, and even parenting tips!

*I love this, it is so creative and different. I also love the way she accessorized it. The Mommy part of me grinned even bigger when I noticed a Olivia book was displayed on her coffee table next to this tray. I love the little details like that. This is such a versatile project that can be used as decoration only or functional serving tray. Thank you so much for Melissa for being my first guest blogger. I loved the tray and I can’t wait to see more from you!